ORLANDO – A year-long marketing effort full of variety and impeccable results paid dividends for UNC Pembroke's athletics external operations team on Monday when the Braves were crowned as the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) Group 3 Marketing Team of the Year, presented by PrestoSports, while also hauling in 11 "Best Of" honors from the organization.
 
In its 11th year, the nominations for the Marketing Team of the Year Award spanned across a diverse amount of divisions throughout the association's membership. The NACMA Marketing Team of the Year Award was created to show the type of impact that a marketing team has, not only in the athletics department, but the campus and surrounding communities as well.
 
"It's been an unbelievable year for UNC Pembroke Athletics, and this just caps it all off for us," said Associate Athletics Director of Marketing & Revenue Jack "Bull" Slavin. "Seven championships for UNCP this year made it very easy to market all of our teams at our level. It's not really a marketing team of the year, but an external team of the year for us. I'd also like to give a special shoutout to our Braves Marketing Team which made all of our gamedays possible."
 
The external operations team also picked up 11 more of the organization's "Best Of" Awards for its marketing and promotion efforts during the 2022-23 athletic season, including five gold medals.
 
Initiated in 2003, the NACMA "Best Of" Awards program honors outstanding achievements in marketing and promotions. Awards are presented in 16 categories, with each category divided into three groups based upon school size and conference affiliations to promote fairness. The winners were recognized during the 2022 NACMA Convention Awards Ceremony on Wednesday.
 
UNCP falls into Group III which represents all Division II Institutions, Division III Institutions, NAIA Institutions, Junior College Institutions, Community College Institutions and Canadian Institutions.
 
The Braves earned a gold medal under the category of Affinity Group Marketing for its Scout Weekend promotion during baseball season, while also picking up top honors for Membership Drives with their Back The Braves Campaign. Gold medals were also handed out to UNCP under the categories of Student Engagement (PAC The Stadium Kickoff Event), Social Media Campaign/Initiative (2023 Think Pink/Neon Night) and Fundraising Campaign (2022 Cash Bash). UNCP also picked up four silver medals and a pair of bronze medal honors.
 
UNCP's external operations team has now claimed 36 NACMA "Best Of" Awards over the last six athletic seasons.
 

• Lamar Courmon, Director of Creative Services
• Morgan Sheehan, Director of Communications & Broadcasting
• Zach McKinstry, Former Director (2021-23) of UNCP Sports Network
• Kamber Skeen, Director of Fan Engagement
• Corey Pethers, Former Director of Fan Engagement (Spring 2022)
• Tyler Johnson, Former Executive Director (2021-23) of the Braves Club
• Katie Johnson, Athletic Ticketing
• Kirsten Kirschbaum, Student Engagement
• Jack "Bull" Slavin, Associate Athletics Director/Marketing & Revenue
• Todd Anderson, Associate Athletics Director/Strategic Initiatives
• Braves Marketing Team: Connor Anderson, Niah Carmichael, Bricen Duff, Izzy Edmonson, Ananda Farland, Ashleigh Harris, Brookelyn Johnson, Zion Sellers, Hope Turbyfill, Katelyn Willoughby
• UNCP Sports Network Interns: Layth Allan, Kimberlyn Swinson, Treycie Ford, JaQuel Williams